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The twins combined for 45 points as the Knights withstood a late rally for a 74-61 victory in the tournament’s opening-round.

The left-handed Kalob LeDoux, the younger of the twins by one minute, poured in a game-high 27 points and Jacob, a righty, had 18.

“That’s what I do best, scoring points,” said Kalob LeDoux, who also had eight rebounds. “I was locked in and doing whatever the team needs. I was taking what they gave me.”

It was the 10th straight win for Lafayette Christian (16-1), whose lone loss came against Scotlandville. The Knights advance to the second round and will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against the winner of the late Wednesday night game between Riverside and West Jefferson.

It was just the second meeting between the two schools. The Knights rallied last season in the third-place game of the St. Thomas More Tournament to win the first meeting. The Knights weren’t going to need any comebacks this time around.

The twins, who have signed with McNeese State, made sure of that.

Kalob LeDoux scored 12 of his points in the first half, including back-to-back 3-pointers. He finished the half with four 3-pointers and had 18 points at halftime as the Knights led 42-29.

His brother had just five at halftime but exploded for 11 in the third quarter.

Lafayette coach Byron Starks wasn’t surprised one bit.

“I’m used to it,” Starks said. “They can rattle off points like that. They are a dynamic duo. They play well together and feed off each other.”

The two said it’s always been that way.

“Ever since we could walk, we had a ball in our hands,” Jacob LeDoux said. “I know where he is on the court, and he knows where I am. We don’t even have to look at each other. We just try to get out and do what we do best.”

St. Thomas More coach Danny Broussard, was trying to move to within one win from career victory No. 900, but will have to carry 898 wins to the consolation bracket of the tournament.

“We didn’t shoot well and when we don’t do that, we struggle,” said Broussard, in his 33rd season. “We missed a lot of easy opportunities. … They got some easy buckets, and that was a big key. We didn’t make them work. Give them credit, though. They are a very hard team to guard.

But despite the 42-29 halftime deficit that blossomed to 65-43 by the end of the third quarter, the Cougars (16-5) didn’t go away.

Jude Joseph and Jonathan Joseph combined for seven straight points to start the fourth quarter to start a run that helped make the final score respectable. St. Thomas More got within 10 points, 68-58 with two minutes left on a layup by Jonathan Cisse but could get no closer.

“I got to love the way we battled back at the end,” Broussard said.

Devante Benjamin scored a team-high 21 points for St. Thomas More and Cisse finished with 16, including four 3-pointers.